Morgan Stanley Bets Big on CIFR and WULF AI Data Center Pivot

Wall Street just dropped a bombshell on bitcoin miners. Morgan Stanley kicked off coverage with Overweight ratings for Cipher Mining (CIFR) and TeraWulf (WULF), slapping sky-high price targets amid their bold shift to AI infrastructure. Meanwhile, Marathon Digital (MARA) gets the cold shoulder with an Underweight call. This isn't just analyst chatter—it's a signal that bitcoin mining's future might lie in powering the AI boom.

Forget pure bitcoin hashrate wars. Morgan Stanley analyst Stephen Byrd is framing savvy miners as digital REITs, churning stable cash from data center leases rather than riding bitcoin's wild swings. CIFR earns a $38 target, implying over 150% upside from recent levels around $15. The firm highlights Cipher's low-cost power access and expansion into high-performance computing, positioning its facilities as prime AI real estate. TeraWulf scores similarly with a $37 target, praised for its nuclear-powered sites and deals locking in long-term data center revenue. Both companies are pivoting hard: retrofitting mining sites for AI workloads that demand massive energy but pay premium rents. Byrd contrasts this with MARA's $8 target, critiquing its heavy bitcoin treasury exposure without the infrastructure diversification. Users on X are buzzing about this rotation. Some point to CIFR's jump past $16 post-news, while others debate if this REIT-like valuation sticks in a volatile crypto world. The thesis boils down to infrastructure moats: land, power contracts, and cooling systems that bitcoin mining built but AI hyperscalers now crave.

The reaction was swift. CIFR surged 14% in early trading, with WULF not far behind on volume spikes. This coverage lit a fire under the sector, drawing eyes to miners as AI plays amid bitcoin's recent 44% pullback from highs. Broader implications? It accelerates the great pivot, where bitcoin miners become energy infrastructure kings. Watch for copycat moves from peers like Riot or Hut 8, and potential M&A as big tech hunts sites. Bitcoin itself stabilized near $70,000, but these stocks decoupled, hinting at new risk-reward dynamics.

Morgan Stanley's call marks a turning point: bitcoin miners evolving into AI enablers with REIT stability. CIFR and WULF lead the pack, but execution on leases and expansions will decide winners. As data center demand explodes, these pivots could deliver multi-baggers even if bitcoin chops sideways. Keep eyes peeled—this sector's rewriting its playbook. Sources: @AIStockSavvy, @miningstockinfo, CoinDesk, Bitcoin Magazine.